Brightest Star in the Sky
by IfYouStopAndThink
Summary: One night, forty-five year old Ron Weasly goes to bed early, leaving Hermione to read on the couch. When he wakes up, she has no pulse. Stunned, the friends and acquaintances of Herimione Granger gather to discuss her life and how it affected them.
1. That Big Library in The Sky

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: The poem below is my own work. Although I may dream, I do not, nor will I ever, own Harry Potter, Hogwarts, etc. Please forgive me if there are tear stains on this story. I cried lots while writing. **

_You ever look at the stars in the sky_

_and noticed the brightest ones, that streak by_

_never last long, and no one knows why_

_always the brightest stars in the sky._

_They catch our attention with twinkles of light_

_subtle yet standing out, all through the night_

_not dim little twits, they're astoundingly bright_

_but they move much too fast, on a non-stop flight_

_Never 'round long enough, always to fly_

_through our thick night in the cloak that's the sky_

_Help us a little, then go out, by-and-by_

_and always the brightest stars in the sky._

Hermione had died quietly. He'd found her on the couch, a book in her lap, slumped, with no pulse.

_Fitting_, Ron thought_, that the last thing she'd do is read a book._

_I don't understand this. We're not even that old. Forty-five? That's still young, especially next to Nick Flamel or whatever the hell his name is. I didn't say goodbye. I grunted and said I was going to bed while she stayed up and read. I should have noticed she didn't come to bed. I should have gone downstairs to check on her. _

The kindly woman at St. Mungos gave him a sympathetic look.

_Hell. I don't want a sympathetic look. I want a ressurection._

"Ron!" cried Hary, sprinting toward him as fast as his legs would carry him. "Is this real?"

Ron gave him a look that said_, Do I look like it's April Fool's Day, you dimwit?_

Tears were streaming down Ginny's face.

"She can't have... she didn't..." she slumped down next to Ron and buried her face in his shoulder.

Harry just sat by Ginny, too shocked to say anything.

Hermione looked around. She was in the library at Hogwarts. No, it couldn't be. It was much, much bigger. Far as she could see, and farther. Books on every shelf.

She had no urge to read.

"Hermione?" asked a voice. She whirled around, seeing Remus Lupin, looking as he looked when she'd seen him last as a seventeen-year-old.

"Lupin!" she cried. "I'm dead, aren't I?"

"You must be," he said. "You're here with me."

"How did I die?" she asked. She felt like crying, yet couldn't physically cry.

"I beleive it was cardiac arrest. Very rare for someone of your age and physical condition."

"But... I didn't even say goodnight to Ron," she whimpered.

"You'll see him later." Lupin smiled and sat down at a table. "Let's talk, Hermione. When you're dead, you have all the time in the world."


	2. Rosie and Hugo Where am I?

HERMIONE GRANGER DIES IN BIZARRE HEART ATTACK

"Dies," spat Rosie, tossing her thick ginger hair over her shoulder, throwing the newspaper on her kitchen table. "Like she's a candle or something. Like she could just be snuffed out. Don't they know who they're talking about?"

Hugo said nothing. Ron wasn't surprised; his son had always been on the thoughtful side, a slow boiler, and solemn--which dissapointed George slightly. Rosie was quick to give anyone who would listen a piece of her mind. But somehow, Hugo's silence went much deeper.

"Disgusting," continued Rosie.

"I've never known anyone to _die_ before," whimpered Hugo softly.

No, thought Ron. Of course he hadn't. His children had grown up in a world where Voldemort's name was used in history lessons, and no one gave a second thought about it. A world where no one ever worried that her husband wouldn't come home from work at the Ministry, where equality between the purebloods and the muggle-born was stressed. Times had certainly changed.

Ron remembered all the times when he'd tried to get Harry to say "You-Know-Who" instead of Voldemort. All the nights his mum stared at the clock, watching his father to see if he was coming home yet or in mortal danger. The time he ended up puking slugs because he'd defended Hermione when Malfoy had called her a Mudblood.

Ron had had so many people taken away from him in the six years that he went to Hogwarts and the one year he spent with Harry and Hermione under the radar--Mad-Eye Moody, Fred, Tonks, Lupin, Sirius, Cedric Diggory, Dumbledore, to name just a few. Even Harry had hardly escaped death, several times. But Hermione! Even then, it had been an outrageous thought, that he might lose her. She was too special. Not when she was eleven, thirteen, seventeen--and certainly not when she was in menopause.

"I love you," he said very softly, barely audible, not sure if he meant it for Rosie, Hugo, or Hermione's spirit.

HERMIONE let her gaze fall across the bookshelves, one by one, as far down as she could see.

"Why am I here?" she asked.

Lupin smiled. "Strangely enough, that depends on your situation, and what you mean by 'here.' For example, if you were back on earth, that would have something to do with your purpose."

_Back on Earth._ The phrase made Hermione sick to her stomach.

"But 'here'," he said, "the way you mean it, has something to do with this library, specifically, right?"

Hermione nodded. Oddly, she felt rather calm.

"When you die," Lupin told her, "you go to the place that your life changed."

"When in doubt, I ran to the library," murmurred Hermione.

"Yes," agreed Lupin.

"I learned so much here."

"It opened your world."

The two sat quietly for a few moments.

"So this is my heaven. Where did you go?" she asked.

"I went to the whomping willow, where padfoot, prongs, and wormtail first went to the shrieking shack with me." He smiled as he remembered.

"But... I'm all alone in my heaven?" She was suddenly worried. "Forever?"

"Heavens, no!" laughed Lupin, and then he chuckled. "No pun intended. This isn't _heaven._"

"It's not?" she was confused. "So, what is this? Where is my heaven?"

"This is only the transition. You have to be ready to move on before you go anywhere. Your heaven... it's through there," he said, pointing.

Hermione looked: he was pointing toward the restricted section of the library.


End file.
